Chapter 172 - 169: Kunpeng, Master of Ten Thousand Demons
The tale tells of seven brothers who battled fiercely atop Mount Meru, facing a devastating defeat at the brink of life and death. Seeing no other choice, the Peng Demon King was about to self-destruct.
In an urgent moment, a piercing screech suddenly echoed, and a tempest swept across the whole of Mount Meru, bringing with it a majestic and imposing will that even the Mahoraga could not stir.
The face of the Peng Demon King lit up with joy, and he called out, "Master!"
The other brothers, astounded, wondered who could the master of the Peng Demon King be? His arrival at Mount Meru at such a time indicated a power that seemingly did not fear the Tathagata—what dreadful strength must he possess?
The Peng Demon King had never mentioned his own sect, and each Demon King kept their secrets; not everything was shared openly. For instance, Wukong never spoke to them about apprenticing under Subhuti, so they could only guess by reasoning from his martial sister Wusheng that Subhuti was a formidable figure. In such a vast world, the existence of powerful hidden experts was quite normal.
Enlightenment Dao suddenly realized, exclaiming in his mind, "That must be the will of Kunpeng! I felt it when I fought with Shiqi Buddha in the company of Zhuang Zhou."
Zhuang Zhou, who had understood the will of Kunpeng, wrote "Free and Easy Wandering", created supreme scholarship, and became a Human Sage. Could the master of the Peng Demon King, imbued with the will of Kunpeng, be Zhuang Zhou? That seemed unlikely—could it actually be Kunpeng himself?
Kong Xuan looked intently into the distance, where a flash of golden light appeared, and a Taoist wearing a yellow Eight Trigrams robe materialized before the Peng Demon King.
"Demon Teacher, Kunpeng!" Mahoraga’s face also turned rather unsightly. He stepped back to stand beside Kong Xuan, to avoid the overwhelming will, for Kunpeng’s mana was almost second only to that of Saints. In ancient times, he was a friend of Taiyi, the Emperor of the demon race, and taught ten thousand demons; hence, he was known as the Demon Teacher.
The brothers were also surprised to discover that the Peng Demon King’s master was Kunpeng!
Kong Xuan was born with the Innate Five-Element Spiritual Root, far surpassing the Peng Demon King in talent without needing a teacher. The Peng Demon King was later taken as a disciple by Kunpeng, which also involved some fortuitous happenings but was not a major topic of discussion.